MORRISONS' 

Stranger's Guide 

FOR 

WASHINGTON CITY; 

WITH 

E T I Q U ETT E 

TO BE OBSERVED IN CALLING UPON 

THE PRESIDENT, OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT, 
FOREIGN MINISTERS, &c., 



LATE OF THE STATB DEPARTMENT. 



ILLUSTRATED 'WITH 'WOOD AND STEEL ENGRAVINGS, EN TIRELY RE-WRITTBN, 
AND BROUGHT Dpj^CjW^Q f^g^l^^ 




J- WASHlNGT(Wr»rerr 

w!' H. & 0. H. MORRISON. 

186S. 

<1_ 






Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

W. H. & 0. H. MORRISON, 

In the Clerk'8 Office of tho District Court for the District of 
Columbia. 

JScGiLL & Wnatnow. Printers & Stereotjpfrs, Washinaton. D.C 



CONTENTS. 



STRANGER'S GUIDE. 

Washington 7 

The Capitol 9 

Discovery of America 13 

Civilization 13 

Statue of Washington 13 

Plan of the Capitol, with location and number of rooms, etc 16 

First Floor 16 

Location of Rooms ou the First Floor 16* 

Second Floor 18 

Location of Rooms on the Second Floor 18* 

Third Floor 24 

Location of Rooms on the Third Floor 2i* 

Dimensions rf the Capitol 25 

The Patent Office 25 

The Post Office Department , 26- 

Treasury Department 27 

The Pre.--ideuts House 29 

The Smithsonian Institution 31 

The Navy Yard 33 

The Natiouiil Observatory 33 

The City Hall 34 

The Congressional Burying Ground 35 

Washington Monument 36 

Jackson Monument 38 

Georgetown 39 

Bladensburg 39 

Alexandria , 39 

The Potomac at the Little Falls 40 

Hospital for the Insane 40 

Military Asylum 41 



Mills' Statue of Washington 42 

The National Armory 43 

Mount Vernon 43 

ETIQUETTE OF WASHINGTON. 

Introduct on „.... 45 

Society in "Washington 46 

Polite Manners the key to Sela:t Society 48 

Rules for Yisitlng.... 49 

Privileged Classes 51 

Etiquette at the White House 53 

State Occasions 56 

Etiquette in Private Life 60 

The Uninitiated 61 

Deportment at Musical Soirees 63 

Members of Congress 64 

Conclusion 65 



Alphabetical List of all the Rooms, &c., in the Capitol. 



NOTICE 



We present to the public the sixth edition of this 
little work ; or we should more properly say, a new 
work, embracing a Guide to Washington, with the 
more essential rules of polite society in the Metropo- 
lis. It has been entirely rewritten, and embraces a 
description of all the public buildings, grounds, and 
objects of interest in the city and its vic'nity, including 
hospitals, &c. 

It is believed that no work of the kind embraces 
a greater amount of valuable information for stran- 
gers and citizens in so short a compass. 



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WASHINGTON CITY. 

^'ItASHINGTON, the Seat of Government of the 
^V United States, is situated at the head of tide- 
water and of navigation on the Potomac, the broadest, 
and, in many respects, the most beantifnl river in the 
Union. The city is surronuded by hills on the cast, 
north, and west, forming an amphitheatre, from the 
sides, and tops of which every house and street is 
visible. 

The engraving presents a view of the city, with the 
Capitol in the foreground. On the right are seen the 
towers of Trinity Church, the City Hall, the Post Office, 
and Patent Office, and far beyond is the lofty range of 
hills above Georgetown. Pennsylvania Avenue, with 
its beautiful rows of trees, and its busy throngs, is 
seen in the centre ; to the left of it the meandering 
course of the Washington Canal is marked by a white 
line ; and on the extreme left is Maryland Avenue, 
leading to the Potomac, which is in full view. Imme- 
diately west of the Capitol, and between the two 
Avenues, are the Columbian Armory, the Smithsonian 
Institution, and the W^ashington Monument. The 
hills beyond the river are in Alexandria county, 
Virginia. 

ifo city in the Union, perhaps, has a more beautiful 



\ * 







site than "Washington, and few are better situated for 
manufactures and commerce. But, with Baltimore 
and Alexandria in the immediate vicinity, which had 
many years the start of it, Washington may be said to 
have literally no commerce, and her manufacturing 
enterprises are yet in their infancy. The Federal 
(lOvernmeut, with its annual distribution of official 
prizes, has hitherto monopolized the attention of a 
majority of those who have turned their ambitious 
thoughts towards the Seat of Government ; and the 
great natural advantages of the position for business 
enterprises have been neglected. The city is cotem- 
poraneous with the Capitol. Prior to the location of 
the Seat of Government at this place, there was not 
even a village where "Washington now stands. The 
act bears date July 16th, 1790 ; and, as may be sup- 
posed, population immediately began to flow to it, 
though less rapidly than was anticipated. The num- 
ber of inhabitants is at present supposed to be more 
than 100,000. The magnitude of the plan of the city, 
and the distances of the public edifices from each other, 
seem to have retarded its growth, as the responsibility 
of paving the immense streets, with one exception, 
has been thrown upon the city. But these early diffi- 
culties are now overcome, and Washington is rapidly 
rising into importance as a city. Within a dozen or 
tifteen years the style of private building has greatly 
improved, and become more worthy of the noble public 
edifices in their midst. The munificent supply of water 
by a grand Aqueduct, now near completion, which, 
while it is a tardy fulfilment of the original plan of 
the city, will add greatly to the prosperity of the place, 
as well as to its beauty, interest, and comfort. 



THE CAPITOL — GENERAL DESCRirTION. 

CgfHE Capitol has a noble and commanding sitnation 
^-^ upon the brow of a hill, a mile northeast of the 
Potomac. From its roof the eye surveys a magnifi- 
cent panorama of the surrounding country. The 
river is seen to emerge from the narrow gorges of 
the hills in the direction of the Blue Ridge. Suddenly 
it turDS from a nearly eastern to a southern direction, 
and meeting with the ocean tides, it Avidens into a bay 
a mile in width, whose placid waters mirror the ele- 
vated slopes which wall it in on cither side. The site 
is worthy of the noble structure which stands upon it. 
The Capitol, like Eome, was not built in a day. It 
has gradually grown up with the country, but, like the 
country, it was modeled upon a great scale, and with 
an eye to future enlargements. The corner-stone of 
the old building, which now constitutes the centre of 
the new edifice, was laid on the 18th September, 1793, 
by General Washington, in the presence of a large 
concourse of citizens, and with imposing ceremonials. 
The plan was drawn by Dr. Thornton, and the work 
executed under several successive architects, (Messrs. 
Hallet, Hadfield, Hoban, and Latrobe,) but was not 
complete when it was destroyed by the British array in 
1814. It was rebuilt in the course of the succeeding 
ten vears ; but after a quarter of a century it Avas found 
2* 



10 



inadequate in many respects to the public convenience. 
It is 352 feet 4 inches in length. The width of the 
wings is 121 feet, and the width of the centre, includ- 
ing the portico and steps, 290 feet. This whole struc- 
ture, including centre and wings, becomes the centre 
of the new building. The corner-stone of the new 
wings, was laid by President Fillmore on the 4th of 
July, 1851. Mr. Webster delivered an oration on the 
occasion. They are connected with the main building 
by corridors, each 44 feet in length and 56 in width. 
The wings are each 324 feet in length, from east to 
west, including porticos and steps, by 152 feet 8 inches 
from north to south, including porticos. The total 
length of the whole edifice is made up of the old centre 
building, the corridors, and the width of the two new 
wings. It is therefore 745 feet 8 inches. 

The material of the old edifice is yellow sandstone, 
which has been painted white, to beautify and preserve 
it. The wings are of white marble. The architecture 
is Corinthian, and the style of finish, exterior and inte- 
rior, is elaborate. The new dome, as presented in the 
engraving, rises 241 feet above the top of the building, 
and 396 feet 4 inches above the level of the grounds 
at the foot of the terrace, or only 4 feet less than St. 
Paul's, and 36 feet less than St. Peter's. The material 
«f the dome is cast-iron. 

The Rotunda, though shorn of its glories while the 
new dome remains incomplete, is still worthy of the 
especial attention of visitors. It is 96 feet in diameter, 
and its walls are ornamented with historical paintings 
and sculptures. Of the eight large paintings which 
occupy the panels in the lower surface of the walls, 
the four illustrative of revolutionary events are by 



11 



Colonel Trumbull, of Connecticut, who was an aid-de- 
camp of General Washino^ton. They are greatly ad- 
mired by the lovers of art. The events chosen by the 
artist for representation are, the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence ; the Surrender of General Burgoyne, at 
Saratoga ; the Surrender of Cornwallis, at Yorktown ; 
and the Eesignation of the command of the Army by 
General Washington to Congress, at Annapolis, at the 
conclusion of peace. The other paintings in the oppo- 
site panels are, respectively, the Embarkation of the 
Pilgrims by Weir, the Landing of Columbus by Van- 
derlyn, De Soto's Discovery of the Mississippi by 
Powell, and the Baptism of Pocahontas by Chapman. 
These great paintings are all by American artists. 

Above the four entrances to the Eotunda are four 
groups of sculpture in high relief, also illustrative of 
events in the history of the country. They are accu- 
rately delineated by our engravings. That over the 
north door represents William Penn in the act of 
making a treaty with the Indians, under the shadow 
of an elm tree. On the opposite wall, Daniel Boone, 
the pioneer of Kentucky, is represented in a desperate 
hand to hand conflict with Indians. This group 
speaks for itself, and needs no description. A band 
of Winnebago Indians who visited Washington some 
years ago, were greatly affected by it, and actually 
raised the war-whoop in the Rotunda ; when, perhaps, 
frightened at the sound of their own voices echoed 
through the lofty dome, they fled from the hall. 

Over the eastern doorway is a group representing 
the Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, Mas- 
sachusetts. The boat has just touched the rock, when 
the Englishman is met by the Indian with the offer of 



12 



an ear of corn, as a symbol of hospitality and friend- 
ship. The child of the white man seems to beg his 
father not to venture on shore, while the mother looks 
with trustful ej-es to heaven. 

Over the western door, Pocahontas is shown in the 
act of shielding Captain John Smith, the pioneer 
colonist of Virginia, from the savage ferocity of her 
father, Powhatan, by thrusting her form between him 
and his victim. These groups are by Italian and 
French artists, and are greatly admired. 

Under the eastern portico, on the north side of the 
entrance to the Rotunda, is a statue of War, by Per- 
sico, an Italian. It is 9 feet high, of Carrara marble. 
There is nothing fierce or ferocious in this piece ; the 
angry brow and the determined bearing are rather 
expressive of indignation at wrong, and a conscious 
power to punish it. 

On the opposite side of the door. Peace is personi- 
fied by a maiden, who, in simple gai'b, and with the 
expression of the sweetness of woman, extends the 
olive branch to her warlilie brother. These pieces are 
highly finished. 

As has been elsewhere indicated, the Dome is sur- 
mounted by a tholus, upon which is placed a collosal 
statue of Freedom, in bronze, 18 feet high, said to 
weigh fifteen tons. It was designed in plaster, in 
Italy, by the great American sculptor, Crawford, and 
the model for more than a year stood in the old Hall 
of the House of Representatives, the admiration of all 
who beheld it. The statue has been cast in bronze 
from this model by Clai'k Mills, who has succeeded in 
preserving the grace and beauty of the original. 

The beautiful group which surmounts the pediment 




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STATUE OF WASHINGTON 
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13 



of the new Senate wing is also by Crawford. The 
principal figure is that of a lovely woman wearing the 
cap of liberty ; it is intended to symbolize Liberty. On 
her right and left are the merchant, the mechanic, and 
other American characteristic figures. 

Discovert of America. — This group occupies the 
southern abutment of the steps leading into the por- 
tico of the Capitol. It is by Persico. It represents 
Columbus landed in America. He holds a globe in his 
right hand, symbolic of his discovery of a new world. 
He is encased in armor, and the artist is said to have 
copied it, to a rivet, from a suit worn by Columbus. 
Tlie figure on his right is an Indian female, and her 
attitude expresses the astonishment and dismay which 
was manifested by her race on first beholding Euro- 
peans. 

Civilization. — This group by Greenough repre- 
sents the conflict of civilization with savage life. The 
female figure on tlie left represents a terror-stricken 
mother holding her child, while the murderous savage 
is arrested by the father, as his arm is raised to deal 
the deadly blow. The dog on the right looks on the 
conflict with eager interest. This group has been 
greatly admired by the lovers of art. 

Statue of Washington.— Greenough's Statue of 
Washington, of collosal size, sits on a pedestal of 
granite, in the grounds east of the Capitol. The 
Father of his Country is represented in a sitting pos- 
ture, with his right hand pointed to heaven, while the 
left holds a Roman sword, with the handle turned 
from the person, symbolic of his trust in Providence, 
and ascription of the glory of his achievements to that 
source. The statue is of one piece of marble, though 



14 



not pure white. It is greatly admired by persons 
whose tastes have been cultivated and familiarized 
with works of art. Mr. Everett regards it as one of 
the greatest works of sculpture of modern times. 

The interior architecture of the extension is elabor- 
ately finished. The walls are decorated with fresco 
paintings, and the floors are covered with incaustic 
tiling. The walls of the Vice-President's room are 
entirely of Tennessee and Italian marble. There is 
also a retiring room adjacent to the Senate chamber, 
whose wall and ceilings are richly covered with gilt. 

The new Senate Chamber and House of Representa- 
tives are worthy of the especial attention of strangers. 
They are entirely similar in construction, but differ 
in size and finish. They are situated in the centres 
respectively of the north and south wings of the Capi- 
tol, with continuous halls running around them, and 
separating them from the outer walls, or from the 
committee rooms. They are, therefore, necessarily 
lighted from above. The ceilings are cast-iron frame 
works, the large square panels being filled with glass 
richly embellished with symbolic representations of 
the arts, history, and characteristics of the country. 
These rich ceilings temper while they admit the light 
of day which comes without stint through the glass 
roofs above. There is also an arrangement of mova- 
ble metallic plates, on the principle of Yenitian blinds, 
under the sunny sides of the respective roofs ; so that 
when the sun is at meridian height, and when it is 
descending in the west, the amount of light admitted 
may be the same. Above the ceiling there is an in- 
genious and complicated apparatus for lighting the 
halls with gas, the effect of which is to produce a light 




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scarcely distinguishable from that of day. The ven- 
tilation of these halls is admirable. 

The Senate Chamber is 113 feet 3 inches long, by 80 
feet 3 inches wide. These dimensions include the gal- 
leries, which extend, entirely around, and will accom- 
modate about one thousand persons. The space under 
the galleries is partitioned off into small apartments, 
and the area of the floor is diminished to that extent. 
It is 83 feet 11 inches long by 51 feet 1 inch wide. 

The House of Representatives is 139 feet long by 93 
feet wide, in its greatest extent. The floor is 113 feet 
by 67. The galleries will accommodate some fifteen 
hundred persons. The elevation of either hall is. 37 
feet. The accurate pictures which accompany these 
descriptions will render them perfectly intelligible to 
every reader. 

The grounds surrounding the Capitol, which now 
embrace about thirty acres, and which are famed for 
their beauty, are to be enlarged to some four or five 
times their present dimensions. The whole cost of 
the Capitol, including the old and new additions, with 
the ground that surrounds it, will amount to perhaps 
ten or twelve millions of dollars. T. U. Walter, Esq., 
is the architect of the extension and the dome. The 
work was under the superintendence of Captain M. C. 
Meigs, of the Engineer Corps, until about the begin- 
ning of the war, when he was restored to his more 
appropriate sphere of military duty, and Mr. Walters 
was placed in charge of the work. 



16 



PLAN OF THE CAPITOL, WITH LOCATION AND 
NUMBER OF ROOMS, ETC. 

Every Room, Picture, piece of Statuai-y and object 
of interest in the Capitol will be foi^d under its proper 
Alphabetical head, numbered to correspond with the 
number on the Plan to which it belongs, and located 
80 as to show on what Floor and in which Wing it may 
be found. Persons following the passages laid down 
on the Plan, can experience no difficulty in finding any 
place they may wish. There will be found also the 
names and a description of eveiy thing that would be 
likely to interest the Visitor. 

ON THE FIRST FLOOR. 

Law Library.— Old Building, No. 8. 

This room was formerly used by the United States 
Supreme Court, but is now used as a Law Library ; it 
contains a very fine collection of Law Books ; none 
but Members, Senators, and Heads of Departments are 
allowed to draw books from here : but strangers can 
consult any books they may wish, without being per- 
mitted to carry them out of the room. This Library is 
open from nine o'clock A. M. until Congress adjourns ; 
and when Congress is not in session from nine A. M. 
until three P. M. 

Folding Room of the Hoin^ie.— 016. Building, No 16. 

This Dep^ tment is used for the Folding and Distri- 
bution of Books, Speeches, and Documents, authorized 
to be printed by Congress. There is a similar estab- 
lishment on the First floor, Senate Wing, No. 47. 

Resta^lranU.—YLo\\^Q Wing, No. 18— Senate Wing, 
No. 41— and Old Building, Second Floor, No. 3. 



16* 



LOCATION OF KOOMS ON THE FIRST FLOOR. 

No. 

Crypt Old BuildiDg. 1 

Police Guard Room " 

Store Room of Law Library " 

Senate Baths •' 

Store Room of Supreme Court " 5, 6, 

Law Library " 

Offices of Court of Claims " 9 

Court of Claims " 10 

Store Rooms of Court of Claims. . . " 11 

Library '' 13 

Judges' Room " 13 

Solicitors " " 14 

Folding Room, House of Represen- 
tatives. Store Room " 15 

Folding Room, House of Represen- 

tives ** 16 

Superintendent of House Folding 

Room " 17 

Restaurant House Wing. 18 

Bath Rooms " 19 

Store Rooms " 20 

Investigation Committee Room. . . " 31 

Elections " 32 

Upholsterers' Room '' 23 

Post Offices and Post Roads Com- 
mittee Room " 24 

Public Buildings and Grounds Com- 
mittee Room " 25 

Committee Room '' 26 

Tei-ritorial Committee Room " 37 

Public Expenditures Committee 

Room " 38 

Doorkeepers' Office, House of Rep- 
resentatives " 29 

Patents Committee Room " 30 

Claims " " •« 31 

Agricultural'-' " " S3 



17* 

JTo. 

Document Room of Clerk of House . 

of Representatives House Wing. 33 

Entrance to Heating and Ventilat- 
ing Apparatus " 34 

Revoluiionary Claims Committee 

Room " 35 

Accounts Committee Room " Sfi 

Indian Affairs " " " 37 

Store Room " 38 

Water Closets for Gentlemen " 39 

Bronze Stair Case " 40 

Restaurant Senate Wing. 41 

Store Rooms " 42,43 

Pensions Committee Rooms " 44- 

Public Lands " " " 45 

Revolutionary Claims Committee 

Room " 46 

Folding Room " 47 

Post Office and Roads Committee 

Room " 4S 

Foreign Affairs Committee Room.. " 49 
Superintendent Senate Folding 

Room " 50 

Enrolled Bills Committee Room.... '' 51 
Private Land Claims Committee 

Room " 52 

Territorial Land Claims Committee 

Room " 53 

Water Closets for Gentlemen *' 54 

Judiciary Committee Room *' 55 

Naval Affairs " " " 56 

Military " " " " 57 

Indian " '* " " 58 

Heating and Ventilating Apparatus 

Entrance " 59 

Claims Ct^niiJiittee Room *' 60 

District of Columbia Committee 

Room " (51 

Store Rooms " 62 

Bronze Staircase " 63 




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17 



Bath Room. —'RouQQ Wing, No. 19. 

This room is for tlie use of tlie Members of the 
House and is fitted up in the most approved style ; it 
is worth looliing into. 

Agricultural Committee Boom. — House Wing, No. 33. 

This is one of the handsomest of the Frescoed Rooms 
in the Capitol. The Paintings in this (as well as the 
other rooms) are emblematical of the business in- 
tended to be transacted in it. On one side is a Paint- 
ing of Cincinnatus leaving bis Plough, to take com- 
mand of the armies of his country ; on the opposite, 
Putnam leaving his plough also, to fight for Independ- 
ence. On the other two sides are portraits of Wash- 
ington and Jefferson, and the Ancient and Modern 
mode of Reaping, &c. While on the ceiling are beau- 
tiful representations of the Four Seasons. 

Heating and Ventilating Apparat^ts.—TioViSQ Wing, 
No. 34— Senate Wing, No. 59, in the basement. 

It is very interesting to see how such an immense 
building is heated and ventilated ; this is done by ma- 
chinery. Two engines in each Wing, driving fans 18 
and 24 feet in diameter, force currents of hot or cold 
air through miles of steam pipe, by which it is heated 
or cooled, and forced again into all the rooms and 
passages. In the summer the building is kept cool by 
shutting off the steam from the pipes and forcing 
nothing but the pure cold air through the building, 
the current of air is so great as to aid in the ventila- 
tion also. 

Bronze Stair Case. — House Wing, first floor, No. 40. 
Senate " " "63 

House " second floor, *' 32 
Senate " " " £4 

3 



18 



There are two of these stairwaj'S in each Wing and 
are considered the finest pieces of bronze work cast in 
the country. The figures on it consist of eagles, deer, 
snakes, squirrels, birds, &c. They were cast in Phila- 
delphia, by Warner, Miskey, Merrill & Co. 

Naval Affairs Committee Room. — Senate Wing, No. 56. 

Militarrj " " " " " " 57. 

Both of these rooms are emblematically frescoed. 

All of the passageways are handsomely painted in 
the Senate Wing. 



SECOND FLOOR. 

Botunda. — Old Building, No. 1. 

This is the centre of the building immediately under 
the dome. In it are many large and valuable paint- 
ings, there are eight on the walls, viz. : Declaration of 
Independence, Surrender of Cornwallis, Surrender of 
Burgoyne, and Washington Resigning his Commission 
to Congress, all by Trumbull ; Embarkation of the 
Pilgrims, by Weir ; Landing of Columbus, by Van 
Dulyn ; Discovery of the Mississippi, by Powell ; and 
the Baptism of Pocahontas, by Chapman. In other 
parts of the room are Equestrian Portraits of Generals 
Washington, by Peale ; Jackson, by Healey ; and 
Scott, by Troye, and portraits ef Webster, Ex-Presi- 
dents Adams, Van Buren, Fillmore, Polk, and Peirce. 
Over the four doors are pieces of statuary set in the 
wall, consisting of Pocahontas Saving the Life of Cap-, 
tain Smith, William Penn Treating with the Indians, 
Landing of the Pilgrims, and Daniel Boone's contest 
with two Indians. On the East Portico, outside the 
Rotunda, are four pieces of statuary, representing 



18^ 



LOCATION OF ROOMS ON THE SECOND FLOOR. 

No. 

Rotiiuda Old Building-. 1 

Restaurant and Stairs to Dome " 3 

Supreme Court Clerk's Office " 3 

" « Chief Clerk's Office. " 4 

Judges of Supreme Court ^" 5 

Supreme Court Ante Room " 6 

Supreme Court Room, (formerly 

the Senate Chamber,) " 7 

Marshal of District of Columbia's 

Office " 8 

Library of Congress— (opposite the 

Rotunda) " 9 

House Stationery Room " 10 

Store Room " 11 

Document Room of House of Repre- 
sentatives, (up stairs,) " 12 

Old Hall of Representatives " 13 

Captainof Capital Police's Office.. " 14 

Old Speaker's Room " 15 

Bronze Doors House Wing. 10 

Military Affairs Committee Room . " 17 
Statue of Jefferson, by Crawford. . . " IS 
Post Office of House of Represen- 
tatives " 19 

Ways and Means Committee Rooms " 20 

Ladies' Reception Room " 21 

Serg-eant-at-Arms, House of Repre- 
sentatives " 23 

Speaker's Room " 33 



19* 

No. 

Members' Reception Room House Wing. 24 

Private " 25 

Clerks' Office, House of Represen- 
tatives " 26 

Clerks' Offices 27 

Picture of Western Emigration, by 

Leutze, *' 38 

Naval Affairs Committee Room " 29 

Hall of Representatives " 30 

Private Passage " 31 

Bronze Staircase " 33 

Senate Chamber Senate Wing. 33 

Bronze Staircase " 34 

Private Passage '' 35 

Finance Committee Room *' 30 

Statue of Franklin, by Powers, House Wing. 37 

Stationery Room of Senate '' 38 

Post Office of Senate " 39 

Sergeaut-at-Arms' Office of Senate. " 40 

Ladies' Reception Room " 41 

Vice-President's Room " 43 

Marble Room " 43 

President's Room " 44 

Private " 45' 

Secretary of Senate Office " 46 

" t« Clerk's Office.. " 47 
Picture of the Battle of Chapultepec, 

byW^alker " 48 

Statue of Hancock, by Stone *' 49 




SENATE WING. 




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Peace and War, the Landing of Columbus, and Civili- 
zation overcoming Barbarism. 

Stairway to the JDome.— Old Building, No. 2. 

Visitors will find the stairs outside the Rotunda door 
leading towards the Senate. 

Supreme Court i?oom— formerly the Old Senate 
Chamber.— Old Building, No. 7. 

Here are held the sessions of the United States Su- 
preme Court, during the Session of Congress. 

Library of Co7igress.—0\d Building, No. 9, opposite 
the Rotunda, on the west front. 

This library is for the use of Senators and Members 
of the House of Representatives, and heads of Depart- 
ments. It would be difficult to estimate the number 
of books contained in it as additions are daily being 
made to the collection. It is, however, one of the 
finest libraries in America, and perhaj^s no other in the 
country is so well guarded against fires. The whole 
shelving is of iron, so that the books are brought in 
contact with nothing combustible. The apartment 
is magnificent. 

Old Hall of EepresentativeR.— Old Building, No. 13. 

This room was formerly used for the meetings of 
the House of Representatives ; the roof is supported 
by massive columns made of pudding stone, taken 
from the Potomac. They constitute an object of much 
interest. 

Old Sjicaker^s Room. — No. 15. 

Bronze Boor. — Corridor of House Wing, No. 16. 

This door is believed to be the most magnificent 
and costly piece of work of the kind in the vvorld. 
Including the casing, it is seventeen feet high, by nine 
in width, and weighs 20,000 pounds. It is ornamented 



20 



witli a symbolic history of Columbus and his discov- 
eries, in high relief. The facing contains fonr figures, 
representing Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, with 
the name of the American artist, Randolph Rogers, 
and date of the design, 1858, on one side, and that of 
F. Von Muller, of Munich, who executed it in bronze, 
in 1861, on the other. 

The door is divided into eight panels. The lower 
one on the left represents Columbus unfolding his plans 
of discovery before the Council of Salamanca, which 
rejected them. The next panel above it represents 
Columbus' departure from the Convent of La Rabida, 
near Palos, which received him and his little sou 
Diego, when in great poverty, and the Prior of which, 
Juan Perez, introduced him to the notice of Queen 
Isabella. The third represents the audience he received 
at the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella. The fourth 
represents Columbus in the act of sailing from Palos, 
on his first voyage. The fifth represents the first 
encounter with the natives of the West Indies. The 
sixth his triumphal return, and entrj' into Barcelona. 
The seventh panel represents Columbus as a prisoner 
in chains, by order of Don Francisco de Bobadilla, 
who was sent to the West Indies by the Court to inves- 
tigate charges against Columbus. The eighth and last 
panel, at the bottom of the door, on the right, repre- 
sents Columbus on his death-bed. The door is also 
ornamented with statues of cotemporary sovereigns, 
discoverers, and warriors, whose names are associated 
with the discovery of America. 

The transom panel over the door represents the first 
lauding in state on the Island of San Salvador. 

The door is also ornamented by the heads of distin- 
guished historians, European and American, who 



21 



liave written upon the discovery and exploration of 
the Continent, with various other emblematic devices. 
Mr. Walter, the architect of the Capitol has very 
justly remarked that the present location of this pon- 
derous and superb door is inappropriate ; and suggests 
that while it has too much fine detail to be exposed to 
the weather, at the exterior entrance of the building, 
another and more fitting place may be found for it, 
when certain contemjDlated modifications of the east 
front of the main building shall have taken place. 

Statue of Jefferson. — House Wing, No. 18. 

This fine piece of statuary is placed at the foot of 
the east gallery stairs ; Crawford was the artist. 

Ladies^ Reception i^oom.— House Wing, No. 21 in the 
passage in the rear of the Hall of Kepresentatives. 

Ladies having business with any of the members, 
can send their card to the person they wish to see by 
one of the Doorkeepers, and wait their coming in this 
room. 

S2}eaJcer^s lioom. — House Wing, No. 23. 

This room is occupied by the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives. The ceiling and walls of this 
room are of iron, very richly gilded and painted ; the 
furniture and all the appointments are very hand- 
some. On the walls are the portraits of nearly all the 
Speakers we have had since the first organization of 
Congress. 

Picture of Western Emigration. — House Wing, No. 28, 
Leutze, artist. Located in the West Gallery stairway 
of the House of Representatives. 

This picture is painted on the wall, and represents a 
I^arty of emigrants crossing the mountains. It is 
greatly admired. 

3* 



22 



Hall of Re2yresentatives. — No. 30. 

Our Congressional Representatives meet in this 
room the first Monday of every December. The paint- 
ing and furnishing are very rich. In the front of the 
room are three white marble desks ; the highest is 
occupied by the Speaker, the nest by the Clerks, and 
the lowest one by the Official Reporters of the debates. 
The members' desks are divided in the centre of the 
Hall by a broad aisle. On the west side are the Repub- 
lican, and on the east, for the most part, the Demo- 
cratic members' seats. Under the galleries of the Hall 
are two Cloak Rooms, a Barber's Shop for the use of 
the members, a Folding Room and Document Room. 
During the Session the galleries are open to the pub- 
lic ; one portion set apart for ladies, and gentlemen 
accompanying them ; another for gentlemen, and a 
third for the Diplomatic Corps. Immediately over 
the Speaker's desk is the NcAvspaper Reporters' Gal- 
lery, where a desk is assigned to each Reporter. The 
ceiling of the room is of iron in the centre of which is 
a beautiful glass Sky-light, on which is painted the 
coat of arms of the several States and Territories. 
Above this Sky-light is a Gas Pipe running all over it 
with burners about one inch apart, and which, when 
lighted, have the effect of sunlight. 

Senate Chamber. — No. 33. 

This Hall is similar to the Hall of Representatives 
in its construction, but differs much in the style of 
painting and furniture. The Vice-President presides 
over this body. 

Statue of Franklin, by Powers. — Senate Wing, No. 37, 
at the foot of the East Gallery stairs. 

Fost Office 0/ /.Sbia^e —Senate Wing, No. 39. 



23 



Sergeant at Arms of Senate. — Senate Wing, No. 40. 

Both of these rooms are very handsomely painted in 
fresco. 

Ladies' deception Boom. — Senate Wing, No. 41. 

In this room the Senators receive their lady friends 
who call on them. The fresco and furnishing is very 
rich. 

Vice- President s i^oom.— Senate Wing, No. 42, in the 
rear of the Senate Chamber, is very plain hut hand- 
somely furnished and decorated. 

Marble Boom. — Senate Wing, No. 43, in the rear of 
the Senate Chamber. 

This is one of the handsomest rooms in the Capitol. 
The ceilings and columns are constructed of white 
marble and the walls of Tennessee marble ; it is beau- 
tifully furnished, and is used as a private Reception 
Room by the Senators. 

Presidents i^oom.— Senate Wing, No. 44, in the rear 
of the Senate Chamber. 

This room is painted very handsomely in fresco ; 
prominent amongst the paintings are portraits of 
Washington and his first Cabinet on the walls, and on 
the ceiling Liberty, Legislation, Law, Religion, and 
Executive are represented; and pictures of Benjamin 
Franklin, William Brewster, Christopher Columbus, 
Americus Vespucius, and many other objects, all of 
which are very finely executed. This room is used by 
the President when he has occasion to be at the Capi- 
tol, and especially during the last hours of a Session, 
when the great number of bills to be signed renders it 
highly convenient for him to be present. 

Picture of the Battle of Chajmltejycc, by Walker.— 
Senate Wing, No. 48, in the West Gallery staircase. 



24 



Statue of Hancock, by Stone. — Senate Wing, No. 49, 
at tlie foot of the West Gallery staircase. 

THIRD FLOOR. 

Dome. — Centre of the Building, No. 1. 

This massive piece of engineering skill is built 
entirely of iron, 264 feet high, and weighs about 4,000 
tons. On the top is a bronze statue of Freedom, de- 
signed in plaster by Crawford, executed by Clark 
Mills. Visiters can reach the top by means of a stair- 
way outside the Rotunda door opening towards the 
Senate. 

Lighting Apparatus. — House Wing, No. 10. 

The Senate Chamber and Hall of Representatives 
are lighted by means of thousands of gas burners 
placed above the Sky-light, which, when lighted, has 
a most beautiful effect. 

Ladies' Betiring Boom. — House Wing, No. 13, and 
Senate Wing, No. 27. 

These rooms are private, and exclusively for the 
accommodation of lady visiters. 

Be2yorters^ Gallery. — House Wing, No. 14, and Senate 
Wing 26. ' 

Desks are assigned Newspaper Reporters in these 
galleries for their exclusive use. 

Telegra2)h Office.— B-c 3 Gallery, No. 15. 

Messages can be seiu any where from this ofiSice by 
any person ; it is only open during the Session of 
Congress. 

Library of the House of Representatives. — House Gal- 
•lery, No. 21, containing nothing but Congressional 
Records, Law Books, &c., exclusively for the use of 
members of Congress. 



24* 

LOCATION OF ROOMS ON THE THIRD FLOOR. 

Ko. 

Dome Old Building. 1 

Commissioner of Public Buildings 

Office " 2,3 

Clerk of Public Buildings Office. . . " 4 

Photograph Rooms v.. " 5,6 

Dome Stai-rs " 7 

Foreign Affairs Committee Room. House Wing. 8 

Judiciary " " .. " 9 

Lighting Apparatus " 10 

Commerce Committee Room " 11 

Public Lands " " " 13 

Ladies' Retiring Room " 13 

Reporters' Gallery " 14 

Telegraph Office House Wing. 15 

Invalid Pensions Committee Room. " 10 
Revolutionary Pensions " " . . " 17 
Roads and Canals " " . . " IS 
District of Columbia " *' ... " 19 
Mileage " " .. " 20 
Library of House of Representatives " 21 
Public Buildings and Grounds Com- 
mittee of Senate " 23 

Pacific Railroad Committee of the 

Senate Senate. 23 

Patents Committee of the Senate. . " 24 

Commerce Committee Room " 25 

Reporters' Gallerj- *' 26 

Ladies' Retiring Room *' 27 

Private Committee Room " 28, 29 

Printing " " " 30 

Document Room " 31 




SENATE WING. 




w 



SENATE WING. 



25 



The floors in both Wings are laid with very hand- 
some tiles, those of the old building are of flags. 

DIMENSIONS OF THE CAPITOL. 

Length, 745 feet 8 inches. Width of Wings, 324 feet. 
Width of old building, 390 feet. 
The architect of building and dome is Mr. T. U. 
Walter, Esq. 



PATENT OFFICE. 

The Patent OflELce is sometimes miscalled the Inte- 
rior Department, because the Secretary of the De- 
partment with his Clerks occupy it, as a matter of 
temporary conyeuience. But it was built for a Patent 
Office simply ; and at the rate of increase of the busi- 
ness of that bureau, a very few years will suffice to fill 
the building with what pertains to patents, to the 
exclusion of every thing else. It occupies two whole 
squares, and fronts south on F street, north on G 
street, east on Seventh street, and west on Ninth 
street. The length of the building from Seventh to 
Ninth street is 410 feet, and the width from F to G is 
275 feet. The inner quadrangle is about 265 feet by 
135. The style of architecture is Doric, and although 
the finish is exceedingly plain, no building in Wash- 
ington is more admired than the Patent Office. The 
grand but simple majesty of its proportions seems to 
address the sense of beauty in the least as well as in 
the most cultivated minds. 

The interior is marked by the same combination of 



26 



plainness of decoration with grandeur of design. The 
lower stories are divided into apartments suitable for 
the business of the office, while the upper or third 
story, when complete, will form one grand saloon, 
running entirely around the quadrangle, measuring 
1,350 feet in length on its outer surface. This room 
is occupied, except on the north, which is unfinished, 
by the models of the patents, admirably arranged on 
either side upon shelves, while ample space is left m 
the centre for promenading around the entire quad- 
rangle. 

There are porticos on the east, west, and south. 
The latter is an exact copy of the portico of the 
Pantheon at Rome. The eastern portico is greatly 
admired. The centre of the south front of the Patent 
Office was built of inferior brown sandstone, and is 
painted to correspond with the beautiful crystallized 
marble of the other portions of the building. Wm. P. 
Elliot was the original designer of this edifice, but it 
has been built under other architects. The northern 
portico remains to be constructed. 



THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 

The Post Office Department, like the Patent Office 
and Treasui'y, has been greatly enlarged within a few 
years. The first building erected for the accommoda- 
tion of the Department was burnt on the 15th Decem- 
ber, 183G ; and the foundation of the present edifice, 
which was designed by Robert Mills, was laid in the 
summer of 1839. The extension, designed by Mr. 
Walter, was commenced in June, 1855. The design 



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27 



is carried out in conformity with the original building, 
though greatly modified and improved in its architec- 
tural details and embellishments. The style is what is 
called Palatial, and the order a modified Corinthian. 
The columns of the extension are monoliths of Italian 
marble. The whole stnicture is marble, but the old 
part is inferior to the new, both in material and finish. 
It covers an entire square, and is bounded by Seventh 
and Eighth streets on the east and west, and F and E 
on the north and south. 

The length of the building from north to south is 
300 feet, and the width from east to west is 204 feet. 
The interior is divided into small apartments for 
business purposes. Visitors should inquire for the 
book of post office accounts kept by Dr. Franklin, the 
first Postmaster General for the Colonies ; also, for the 
Dead Letter Office. The City Post Office occupies the 
lower story of the north front, and is well arranged. 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 

The old portion of the Treasury Department fronts 
on Fifteenth street, between Pennsylvania avenue and 
G street. It stands on the site of the old Treasury 
building, (which was burnt in the spring of 1833.) 
It was commenced in the summer of 1836, and pre- 
sented an unbroken Ionic colonnade 343 feet long, 
with the ends unfinished. The extension, the founda- 
tion of which was laid in September, 1855, designed 
by Mr. Walter, and superintended by Mr. Young, 
who has designed many important details, is a great 



28 



improvement on the old structure. The design, the 
materials used, and the execution are all superior. 
The old building is of inferior brown sandstone 
painted ; and the colonnade, though imposing in 
appearance, is monotonous and inconvenient, as it 
serves to exclude the light from the building. The 
plan of the extension flanks the old building at each 
end with massive and beautiful terminations of the 
north and south fronts, which break the monotony of 
the long portico of the original building. There are 
two inner quadrangles, formed by the old rear build- 
ing, extending back from the eastern entrance. These 
courts are each 130 feet square. The walls of the 
extension are composed of pilasters, resting on a base 
which rises some twelve feet above the ground on the 
southern or lower side. Between the pilasters or anta? 
are fillings tastefully arranged so as to form door and 
window facings with beautiful mouldings. In the 
centre of the southern, western, and northern fronts 
are magnificent porticos in the Ionic order. The west 
front has also the projecting pediments at the ends, 
corresponding with those on the east side, and each 
supported by square antos at the angles, with the two 
columns between. The whole new structure is of the 
best and most beautiful granite in the world, brought 
from Dix island, on the coast of Maine. The antce 
and columns are monoliths. The large solid antae 
weigh nearly an hundred thousand pounds, and the 
columns some seventy-five thousand. The facilty with 
which these immense masses are hewn out of the 
quarries, swung on board vessels, brought to the 
Capitol, and raised to the positions which the archi- 
tect in his studio designed them to occupy, conveys 



29 



a high idea of American art and enterprize. The 
Treasury Department, as extended, will be 465 feet 
long, exclusive of the porticos, by 266 feet wide. The 
interior arrangements are admirable ; and the interior 
architectural ornamentation, while it is more elaborate 
than in other public buildings except the CaiJitol, is 
peculiarly American in its details. The composite 
capitals of the interior, as well as the moulding, are 
worthy of especial attention. The west front is now 
nearly completed, and is occupied by the Secretary of 
the Treasury and by the Commissioner of the Internal 
Revenue and their clerical forces. The north front 
will be begun during the present year, and will occupy 
the ground upon which the State Department stands. 
The south front has been finished for three years past, 
and occupied. 



THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 

Tne President's House is situated upon the highest 
ground, and nearly midway between the Capitol and 
Georgetown, one mile and a half from the former. It 
commands a fine prospect down the Potomac, with 
Alexandria and Fort Washington in full view. The 
grounds about the President's House are tastefully 
adorned with artificial mounds, gravel-walks, trees, 
and a fountain. The house has a rustic base, which 
on the south side is entirely above ground, and gives 
a facade of three stories. On the north, but two stories 
rise above the level. The main building is 170 feet 
long by 86 deep. It is of sand-stone painted white, 
4 



with Ionic pilasters. The building is cotemporary 
in age with the Capitol. While General Jackson was 
President, a portico was added on the north side. The 
south side has a bow in the centre, with a portico of 
corresponding shape. Appended to the main build- 
ing, at either end, are long, low ranges of stalls with 
flat roofs, which are used for various household 
purposes. That on the west is surmounted by a beau- 
tiful green-house, which is filled Vv'ith exotic plants. 
The public approach to the President's House is on the 
north side, except on Wednesday evenings in summer, 
when a sort of out-door reception is given, accompa- 
nied with music, in the grounds on the south side. 
Last year, however, this musical entertainment was 
given in Lafayette Square, on the north side of the 
White House, on account of the building rubbish which 
surrounds the south grounds. The entrance from the 
north porch, is into a long vestibule, through which 
the visitor passes to the right into the President's Re- 
ception Room. This communicates with the Round 
Room, formed by the south bow front, and this with a 
Square Room, which adjoins the great East Room. 
This last is the grand parlor of the President. As its 
name indicates, it is in the east end of the building, 
and extends entirely across the house from north to 
south. It is 80 feet long by 40 wide, and 22 feet high. 
These rooms are elegantly but not extravagantly 
finished and furnished. They can be seen at all times 
by strangers — the President only at certain hours set 
apart by himself. 



81 



THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE. 

James Smithson, an English gentleman of liberal 
cclncation, died at Genoa, in the year 1828, leaving his 
property to an only son, and in the event of the death 
of that son -without heirs, to the United States, " to 
found at Washington, under the name of the Smithso- 
nian institution, an establishment for the increase and 
diffusion of knowledge among men." According to 
the expectation of the testator, the heir of Mr. Smith- 
son, who was in an almost hopeless state of consump- 
tion, died without heirs, and the property, valued at 
half a million of dollars, reverted to the United States. 
Congress accepted the bequest on the 1st day of July, 
1836, and the fund was received into the Treasury, 
September 1st, 1838. After a prolonged discussion a 
law was passed in 1846, for the establishment of the 
Institution as it now exists. The building was erected 
about seventeen years ago of red sandstone. It is 
situated in an open space between the Capitol and the 
Washington Monument, and is surrounded by an en- 
closure extending from Seventh to Twelfth street, and 
from the Canal to B street south. The area enclosed 
contains about fifty acres, and the greater part of it 
was beautifully improved under the direction of the 
late Mr. Downing. The building was planned by Mr. 
Eenwick in Romanesque style. It consists of a centre 
building 250 feet long and 55 broad ; two connecting 
ranges or cloisters, 60 feet each ; and two wings, each 
40 feet by 80. The entire length of the building is 
therefore 450 feet. The north entrance passes under a 
double tower ; the one on the right hand, which is 



32 



octagonal, being 145 feet high. The south entrance 
passes under a large but not very elevated square 
tower. The main building is also flanked at each angle 
by a large toAver ; and the wings have smaller towers. 
The towers contain the stairways. The vdiole lower 
story of the centre building is in one grand apartment, 
250 feet long by 50 in width, occupied by the museum. 
The Library is in the west wing. The east wing is 
occupied by the family of the Secretary or Superin- 
tendent of the Institution. The Lecture Room, capable 
of seating fifteen hundred people, is in the centre of 
the main building on the second floor. On the east of 
it is a large room containing the chemical and philo- 
sophical apparatus ; and on the west is a room of cor- 
responding dimensions, at present used as a picture 
gallery. The Museum now contains the articles 
brought by the Exploring Expedition, which for many 
years were deposited in the Patent Office. The visitor 
will be interested to observe, that while the Smithso- 
nian is a regular building, with a centre united to 
wings by cloisters, yet there are no two parts alike. 
There are no two towers or facades alike. This is au 
interesting feature of the Institution, and i)leases by 
its variety, while it satisfies the love of symmetry by 
the regular correspondence of the parts. Free lectm*es 
on science and literature are given three times a week 
during the winter ; and throughout the year visitors 
are admitted between the hours of 9 A. M. and 5 P. M. 
The Library is for the most part composed of works 
of science, a large portion of them being in foreign 
languages. The Museum embraces the articles which 
for many years were deposited at the Patent Office, 
with other interesting collections. In the department 




-"^ 



%■- /Ju, 




l:.i t: 



of natural history are extensive collections of the rep- 
tile races, preserved in alcohol, together with a great 
variety of skins of American animals, vs^hich are being 
stuffed for exhibition. The Picture Gallery contains 
Stanley's numerons collection of Indian Portraits, 
taken from life by the artist, who spent several years 
among the Indians in Oregon, California, and the 
Western Territories. The Gallery also contains the 
Dying Gladiator. 



THE NAVY YARD. 

The Washington Navy Yard is situated near the 
mouth of the East Branch of the Potomac, one mile 
southeast of the Capitol. This yard, though less ex- 
tensive than those of Brooklyn, Gosport, and Boston, 
is a place of much interest to strangers. It contains 
two ship-houses, and a great number of machine shops, 
in which whatever pertains to the naval service is 
manufactured. The grounds, embracing some 25 
acres, are tastefully improved. They are open to 
visitors throughout every day, except Sundays. Since 
the war commenced the amount of work done in the 
yard has greatly increased, and steps are being taken 
for its enlargement. 



THE NATIONAL OBSERVATORY. 

This institution, which is destined to play a distin- 
guished part in the world of science, has already, 
though founded in 1813, acquired a European reputa- 
4* 



34 



tion, by the important contributions it lias made to 
astronomical science. It is admirably located on a 
high knob, near the Potomac, between the President's 
House and Georgetown. It is supplied with a supe- 
rior telescope and other apparatus for observing the 
heavens and the phenomena of the atmosphere, a de- 
scription of which our limits will not permit. 

Strangers can visit it at all hours, and are permitted 
to inspect the telescope and other instruments when 
they are not in use. Telegraph wires connect this 
Observatory with all others in the Union, so that simul- 
taneous observations of the heavenly bodies and the 
conditions of the atmosiDhere may be made and com- 
pared. 



THE CITY HALL. 

The City Hall has never been finished according to 
the design of George Hadfield. It was begun in 1820. 
About sixteen years ago, the south, east, and west 
fronts were stuccoed, and a portico added, in the 
Ionic order. The length is 200 feet, but it is too 
shallow, and contains no apartment of suitable dimen- 
sions for court rooms. Its appearance is imposing. 
It is situated at the head of Four-and-a-Half street, at 
the junction of Louisiana avenue and Indiana avenue 
with D street. The Circuit and Criminal Courts of the 
District of Columbia are held here, together with the 
]^Iayor's and other offices connected with the city 
government. 



^^fim^^f^ 




35 



THE CONGRESSIONAL BURYING GROUND. 

This Cemetery is generally supposed to be the prop- 
erty of the Federal Government, and to have been 
especially designated as a burial place for Members of 
Congress and other distinguished official personages. 
This, however, is a mistake, originating in the name 
assumed for it. It is the property of one of the Epis- 
copal churches, and the Government is in no way re- 
sponsible for its preservation. 

This venerable city of the dead has partaken of the 
general prosperity of the community, and has within 
a few years enlarged its borders by the addition of 
several acres. It now embraces nearly twenty acres. 
It contains a plain cenotaph for each member of Con- 
gress who has died during the term for which he was 
elected, since the Capitol has been located in Washing- 
ton. There are 147 of these simple memorials. There 
are several monuments of interest. Among these is 
one erected to George Clinton, one to Elbridge Gerry, 
and one to William Wirt. There are also several 
distinguished officers of the Army and Navy buried 
here : among them Major-General McComb, the pre- 
decessor of Lieutenant-General Scott as commander- 
in-chief : Major-General Jacob Brown, General Gibson, 
General Archibald Henderson, and Commodore Isaac 
Chauncey. Also, Hon. A. P. Upsher, Secretary of 
State under John Tyler, and Messrs. John W. Maury, 
and John Towers, ex-Mayors of Washington, to whom 
beautiful monuments have been erected. In the plain 
old vault, near the centre of the grounds, the remains 
of General Taylor and Mr. Calhoun reposed for several 



36 



days. The Congressional Burying Ground is beauti- 
fully situated on the banks of the East Branch, about 
a mile above the Navy Yard, with the noble range of 
forest-clad hills on the opposite side of the broad ex- 
panse of water, forever looking down upon the peace- 
ful repose of the dead 



WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

The design of the Washington Monument contem- 
plates a shaft 600 feet in height. The marble obelisk, 
resting on a foundation of gneiss 17| feet high, is 55 
feet square at the base. This foundation is 81 feet 
square, and extends eight feet below the surface. The 
wall of the obelisk is 15 feet thick at the base, and 
gradually tapers on the outside. The inside of the 
wall is perpendicular, and the enclosed space is 25 feet 
square. The 15 foot wall will ascend until the gentle 
taper reduces it to two feet in thickness. The interior 
walls will be ornamented by the insertion of the nu- 
merous specimen pieces sent from all parts of the 
world as tributes to the memory of Washington. They 
are so arranged as not to be covered by the stairway, 
which will ascend to the top of the Monument. 

The pantheon base, as represented in engravings, 
was a part of the plan originally selected, but it is now 
highly probable that it will be dispensed with, and 
that the plain square base, which is characteristic of 
the obelisk, will be substituted. This change in the 
plan, while it will reduce the cost of the Monument to 
one-half the sum contemplated in connection with the 
pantheon, will, at the same time, conform it to the re- 
cognized rules of art. It will be the highest struc- 



m 




■41 






W 



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■WASHI:N"GT01N TSTATIOKAL MONuMJi.lNT 



37 



ture in the world, and yet it will form only a well- 
deserved tribute to the man whom Lord Brougham has 
pronouned "the greatest ruler of any age." 

The Monument is now 170 feet high, and has cost 
thus far $230,000. The total cost of the obelisk has 
been estimated at $553,000. The pantheon was esti- 
mated to cost $570,000 alone ; but a plain and appro- 
priate base may be built for less than a tenth of that 
sum. The yisitor to Washington should not fail to 
examine the interesting contributions of ornamented 
blocks of marble and stone from all parts of the world. 
Such of them as have not been inserted in the wall, too 
high for inspection at present, can be seen in a shed 
near the Monument. 

Some of the most celebrated obelisks in the world, 
if compared with this, dwindle into insignificance. 
As, for instance : 

Feet. 

Antonine's Column, at Kome, is 135 

Trajan's Column " '• 145 

Principal Tower of Smithsonian 145 

Napoleon's Tower, Paris 150 

Washington Column. Baltimore 181 

Sesostris' Obelisk, Thebes , 200 

Bunker Hill Monument, Boston 220 

Column of Delhi 263 

St. Paul's, London 320 

Cathedral Tower, Strasburg 460 

St. Peter's, Rome 465 

Great Pyramid of Cheops, Egypt 480 

Tower of Malines, Belgium 550 

W^ashington Monument, Washington 600 



38 



JACKSON'S MONUMENT. 

The Jackson Monument stands in the centre of 
Lafayette square, opposite to the President's House. 
It is a bronze equestrian statue, by Clark Mills. The 
noble steed stands poised upon the hind feet, the first 
and perhaps the only instance of the kind in the world. 
Mr. Mills, by consulting nature, ascertained the true 
position of the several parts of the body of the horse 
in the act of rearing, and thus overcame the appa- 
rently insurmountable obstacles in the way. The 
animal naturally throws himself back on his haunches 
until the feet reach the centre of gravity. The artist 
has simply copied nature ; and it is a great mistake to 
suppose that the statue is held in place by the rivets 
which attach the feet to the pedestal ; they would be 
entirely inadequate to such a strain. These rivets are 
doubtless a useful provision against accidents, but 
they are not essential in keeping the horse poised, 
even during a violent wind. Mr. Mills exhibits a 
small model, which satisfactorily illustrates this prin- 
ciple. The statue is composed of cannon taken by 
General Jackson in his battles with the English. The 
likeness is deemed good. The General is represented 
in the act of waving his hand in acknowledgement of 
honors paid him while reviewing his troops. This 
monument to the hero of New Orleans was erected on 
the 8th of January, 1853, the anniversary of the battle, 
on which occasion Mr. Douglas delivered an appro- 
priate oration. 




oTATUE OF JACKSON 
( V Mills) 








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If ' 



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39 



GEORGETOWN. 

This old place is separated from Washington by 
Rock creek, which is a mile northwest of the Presi- 
dent's House. The scenery in this vicinity is well 
worth the attention of strangers. The town has near 
ten thousand inhabitants, and is coterminous with 
Washington on the west. 



BLADENSBURG. 

Bladensburg is noted for the duelling-ground in its 
vicinity, which is a ravine three-quarters of a mile 
from the town, in the direction of Washington. 
Bladensburg was also the scene of a not very credit- 
able battle with the British forces in 1814, if, indeed 
the complete route and dispersion of the American 
militia can be called a battle. The town is five miles 
northeast of the Capitol. 



ALEXANDRIA. 

This town is situated about sis miles below Wash- 
ington, and in full view. It belonged to the District 
of Columbia from 1790 to 1846, when it, as a part of 
the county of the same name, in which it is situated, 
was retroceded to Virginia. It now has some fifteen 
thousand inhabitants, and before the war its trade 
with the interior was considerable. But this is tem- 
porarily suspended. It has a high, healthy, and 
beautiful situatioUj with a fine harbor. 



40 



THE POTOMAC AT THE LITTLE FALLS. 

The Potomac, below tbe Little Falls, rushes through 
the narrow space between two piers of the bridge, 
with the high range of hills in the back ground, rising 
abruptly and almost perpendicularly from the water. 
The scene is wild and interesting. It is only four 
miles above Washington. Immediately below this 
bridge, the narrow mountain stream meets the tides 
from the ocean, and four miles below it presents an 
expanse of water a mile in width. The scene is wild 
and romantic. 



HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE. 

The Hospital for the Insane of the Army and Navy 
and District of Columbia occupies a noble site on the 
east bank of the Potomac, near its confluence with 
the East Branch. The eminence on which it stands is 
one of the highest in the vicinity of the Capitol, and 
command the finest view of the city any where to be 
had. The edifice is an immense structure, 711 feet in 
length. It is in the collegiate style of Gothic architec- 
ture, and is divided into sections, receding on either 
hand from the centre building and from each other, 
thus giving corridors in each section for the admis- 
sion of the light. This idea, says the architect, Mr. 
Walter, was suggested by Dr. Nichols, the superin- 
tendent. The centre building is enriched by buttresses 
on the corners, and a magnificent oriel window orna- 
ments the main tower. The windows are finished v/ith 



1^ 



S || 




yi; m 




41 



liood mouldings formed of cast-iron. The wliole is 
surmounted by embattled parapets, and presents a 
facade of great richness, notwithstanding extreme 
simplicity of detail. The material of the building is 
brick on a foundation of gneiss. The interior is sub- 
divided into various suites of apartments adapted to 
the condition of the patients. The hospital is open 
to visiters on Wednesday. The number of inrhates at 
present is about 120. 



THE MILITARY ASYLUM. 
This building occupies a high plateau about three 
miles north of the Capitol, which for beauty and 
salubrity is unsurpassed ; but its greatest charm is the 
noble view down the Potomac river, with the city in 
the foreground. From no other point about Washing- 
ton, pierhaps, does the river scenery appear to equal 
advantage. The noble range of hills which enclose 
the river are seen stretching awaj' down to the vicinity 
of Mount Vernon, Avhere the sudden bend in the 
stream cuts short the view, and gives the appearance 
of a lake walled in by mountains. The Asjdum is in 
the Norman style, of East Chester marble, roughly 
dressed or "pointed." It will be, when completed, 
593 feet in length, by 58 feet -1 inches in breadth, with 
a rear building, called the mess-room, 60 feet in length. 
But the wings are not yet added. Projecting from the 
centre of the south or front, is a tower 83 feet high 
above the surface of the ground. From the top of this 
tower the eye can survey a distance of country twenty- 
five or thirty miles in diameter. The edifice is divided 
into 43 rooms, exclusive of the cellar. 
5 



42 



Near the main structure are two small buildings in 
cottage style, designated as officers' quarters Nos. 1 
and 2. The first is 52 feet by 40, and surrounded by a 
piazza. No. 3 is 48 feet by 40, and in the same stjde. 
The President has for several summers past occupied 
these quarters -R-ith his family. 



MILLS' STATUE OF WASHINGTON. 

In 1853, Congress appropriated $50,000 for the erec- 
tion by Clark Mills, Esq., of an equestrian statue of 
Washington. In compliance with this order, Mr. 
Mills has chosen for illustration the courage and 
daring by which Washington, at the crisis of the battle 
of Princeton, rallied his troops, and turned the scale 
in favor of his country's cause, by what, at another 
time, would have been a reckless exposure of his 
person. The incident is familiar to the student of his- 
tory. The horse is rejDresented as shrinking back 
before the destructive fire of the enemy, while his 
rider surveys the scene with the calmness and resolu- 
tion which know no fear, when honor and duty are at 
stake. The head and face of Washington are from a 
bust by Houdon, taken in Washington's lifetime, and 
which remained at Mount Vernon. The likeness is, 
doubtless, one of the best in existence. The statue is 
coUossal in size, being eleven feet, if standing erect, 
and upon horseback, fifteen feet. 




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STATUE O'F WASHIKCtTOIT 



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43 



THE NATIONAL ARMORY. 

This biiildlu.t^ is situated on the public ground be 
twcen tlie Smithsonian Institute and the Capitol. The 
design has not yet been completed. Onlj' the centre 
has been erected, which is 103 feet in length, by 57 in 
width. It is three stories high. The floors of the 
second and third stories are supported upon iron 
columns. When completed, it will present a fine ap- 
pearance. It is designed as a depositor)' of arms for 
the volunteer militia of the District of Columbia, as 
well as of national trophies, relics, flags, Ac. The 
The latter circumstance will give to it a national im- 
portance, and make it well worthy the attention of 
strangers. 



MOUNT VERNON. 

Mount Vernon, (not the house, but the place,) is 
worthy to have been the residence of Washington. A 
more noble and commanding view of the river scenery 
is scarcely anywhere to be seen. The house is of 
wood, two stories high, and 96 feet long, and sur- 
mounted by a cupola. In the time of Washington it 
presented a fine appearance. It is now in a state of 
dilapidation, and is only an object of interest from 
association with a great name, and from the remark- 
able beauty of its surroundings. Mount Vernon is 
fifteen miles below Washington, on the Virginia side 
of the Potomac. Before the war it was regularly 
visited in steamboats, which ran twice a week from 
Washington. The Mausoleum is of plain brick. The 



44 



•white marble sarcophagi of General and Mrs. Wash- 
ington can be seen through the iron bars which close 
up the gate or doorway. The Mount Vernon house 
and grounds, including the Tomb, have now passed 
into the hands of the " Mount Vernon Association," 
and it is hoped that a mausoleum worthy of the Father 
of his Country will be erected over his remains. 



INTRODUCTION. 

^^LOSELY connected v/ith the history of nations 
^^ and families is the subject of difference of social 
^ rank. The condition of society has at all times, 
and in all countries, been one of inequality. In 
the heroic days of Greece we have a glimpse of fam- 
ilies or races of larger, stronger, more vigorous men 
ruling over the rest of the coiAmnnity. In ancient 
Rome there were two great classes, corresponding in 
their origin with the new settlers and the old inhab- 
itants of the country. The broadly marked differ- 
ence between the nobleman or gentleman and the 
rest of the community is one of the most prominent 
features of mediaeval life, and the source from which 
the less abrupt variations of rank in modern society 
have sprung. This distinction, which seems in its 
vigor to have been in part at least one of race, was 
developed by feudalism, which made land its neces- 



46 



sary support and adjunct. In our own times these 
characteristic peculiarities in the various gradations 
of social life are, if possible, still more marked and 
distinct, and nowhere so obtru-sively as in this boasted 
land of freedom and equality. Although even 
amongst us republicans, the exigencies of polite soci- 
ety require something more commanding to entitle a 
man to admission to the enchanted circles of what 
is called fashionable life than the mere attributes of 
wealth. 

In AVashington especially, where persons of re- 
finement and elegance, from every part of the country 
and of the world are assembled, education, outward 
polish, dignity and suavity of deportment, are deemed 
indispensable requisites in the character of those who 
claim the privilege of entree into the best society. 



SOCIETY IN WASHINGTON. 

The society of Washington, unlike tha to fany 
^ other city of this Union, is composed of such incon- 
3^ gruous and discordant materials, so utterly at vari- 
ance with what one usually meets in the same 
sphere of life elsewhere, whether on this continent or in 
Europe, that the opposite extremes of social life are 
frequently brought in contact, to the amazement of 
strangers accustomed to the blandishments and 
attractions of exclusive coteries. It is no uncommon 
occurrence in Washington to encounter in, the draw- 



47 



ingTooms of a Cabinet minister, diplomatic func- 
tionaries of the highest rank, with their superbly 
refined and gorgeously attired wives, redolent of 
the odor of aristocratic pretentions, and a score of 
army contractors, with a liberal sprinkling of retired 
suttlers, who have grown fat and bulky upon the 
enormous profits of their speculations d-uring the 
late calamitous war, some of whom had never, 
perhaps, before trodden a carpeted floor, with the 
exception of the reeky precincts of some back par- 
lor in a country tavern. And yet such is the effect 
of example upon the human mind among Americans, 
to such an extent are the powers of imitation de- 
veloped among certain classes of people, that, not- 
withstanding the utter want of harmony perceptible 
in the elements collected together at these reunions, 
the conventionalities ef life are seldom set at defi- 
ance, and the strictest decorum is invariably in the 
ascendant. The same instinct which, with most men, 
prompts the love to trace the links that connect us 
with the past, and to make acquaintance with the 
fame and history of those without whom we should 
not have had our being, induces the desire to culti- 
vate the arts of politeness and gentility, on the part 
of those who have had the good fortune to emanci- 
pate themselves from the trammels and privations of 
humble life. 



48 



POLITE MANNERS THE KEY TO SELECT 
SOCIETY. 

fT is not our intention ta enter into a dissertation 
upon the laws which govern polite society in "Wash- 
^ ington, further than to remark that nowhere are the 
advantages of education and polished manners con • 
ducive to happier results than they are among the 
heau monde of the Federal Metropolis ; while coarse- 
ness and vulgarity never fail to operate as an in- 
superable barrier agaist the possibility of access to 
polite circles. The la\vs of good breeding are based 
upon the same foundation everywhere, and spring 
from the same instincts — the in-born nobility of man ; 
whether he be a prince or a peasant, whether he 
dwell in a palace or a hovel. The observance or 
violation of these laws are attended by the same con- 
sequences everywhere; therefore it 'were an act of 
superrerogation, if not a positive absurdity, to pre- 
scribe rules for the conduct of strangers visiting 
Washington in connection with the etiquette to be 
observed in social intercourse, still let us say that 
good breeding and refinement, or rather the externals 
of these qualities, are generally considered as wholly 
precluding those vulgar manifestations of ill-temper, 
rudeness, impertinence, and similar feelings which 
the unsophisticated display with such perfect frank- 
n'ess. But it does not thence follow that the well- 
bred and the refined have not their little spites, little 



49 



envions feelings, little assumptions of consequence 
to gratify ; indeed they do gratify them very freely; 
all the difference lies in the manner ; for there is a 
finish, a delicacy of touch in the polite impertinence 
of the well-Lred which the under-bred may envy, 
but must never hope to attain. The slight that can 
be convej^ed in a glance, in gracious smiles, in a 
wave of the hand, is often the ne iiliis ultra of art. 
What insult is so keen, or so keenly felt, as the po- 
lite insult wliich it is impossible to resent? 



cy- 



RULES FOR VISITING. 

HE gay season in Washington — the season for the 
interchange of social courtesies, and the dispensing 
of hospitalities, is generally inaugurated irnmedi- 
diately after the assembling of Congress and the 
Supreme Court of the United States, when the city be- 
gins to swarm with strangers froni every section of the 
country, who are drawrt to this great centre of attrac- 
tion, either in pursuit of pleasure or by the necessities of 
business. The first ceremonial to be observed on the 
part of Members of Congress and strangers generally, 
who have just reasons to consider themselves enti- 
tled by their social position at home, or personal 
acquaintance with any of the high Government- 
functionaries stationed at Washington, to participate 
in the festivities of the fashionable world, is to leave 
their cards in person upon Members of the Cabinet, 



50 



Judges of the Supreme Court, Heads of Foreign 
Legations, the Commander-in-Chief of the United 
States armies. Senators and other Members of Con- 
gress having private establishments in Washington 
during the winter, and such prominent citizens, who, 
from their official *or social position, may properly 
be considered entitled to this preliminary demonstra- 
tion in the exchange of courtesies. If the recipient 
of this complimentary visit be a man of family, eti- 
quette requires that two cards be left— one for him- 
self and the other for his wife, each card being 
turned up at one of the corners to indicate the fact 
that the visit was made in person. It is also custo- 
mary when the lady of the house has a daughter old 
enough to be presented in society, or a friend stay- 
ing on a visit, to extend the courtesy of an addi- 
tional card for each and every one of those ladies. 
In all Cases when the wives of Members of Congress 
make Washington their residence during the winter, 
the ceremonial visit may be made by the ladies of 
said Congressman's family, who are privileged, by 
established custom, to leave the gentleman's card, to- 
gether with their own, according to the rules pre- 
scribed above; the compliment of the ladies' visit 
being confined, of course, to those of their own sex. 
This privilege, however, does not extend to the fami- 
lies of private citizens. After the expiration of a 
certain period of time, which should not exceed ten 
days, the visit a la carte, with more or less observ- 
ance of the above mentioned formalities, is generally 



51 



returned, and then the carnival of soirees dansantes, 
hops, receptions, and dines en grande toilette fairly 
commences. Those whose social position and per- 
sonal character are beyond doubt or suspicion, sel- 
dom fail to receive their share of invitations to these 
hospitable and most attractive entertainments. In- 
vitations to balls, evening parties, or receptions, do 
not necessarily require written answers of accept- 
ance or declension ; but etiquette demands that an 
invitation to dinner should be promptly acknowl- 
edged so as to enable the dispenser of hospitality to 
fill up the vacancy, in case the parties invited should 
not be able to accept. 



PRIVILEGED CLASSES.. 

^^^LTHOUGH the forms of etiquette are the same in 
S^' every community, where polite society holds its 
^> sway as an element of refinement and civilization, 
yet there are many peculiarities in the etiquette of 
Washington which are not applicable to other locali- 
ties. Among these we may mention the variations 
in the etiquette of visiting — not as regards the 
proper hours for making such visits, or the period of 
their duration, for such things are regulated every- 
where by the same rules of common sense, but in so 
far as relates to certain functionaries, who are pre- 
cluded by the onerous duties of their respective posi- 
tions from indulging in the passtimes of fashion and 



52 



mixing freely with the outside world. These are 
the Cabinet Ministers, Judg-es of the U. S. Supreme 
Court and Court of Claims, and heads of Bureaux. 
These several high dignitaries and officials are, hy 
common consent, absolved from all observance of the 
rules of social etiquette, in so far as regards visiting, 
and may return the compliment of a visit, come 
from whom it may, by sending their cards, enclosed 
in envelopes, either by a servant or by mail. 
What is perfectly justifiable in gentlemen of this 
class, however, would be considered quite a sol- 
ecism if attempted by persons occupying a differ- 
ent position. Representatives of foreign govern- 
ments have not unfrequently attempted to act in 
deiiance of this established rule, but have invariably 
failed to secure a recognition of their pretensions. 
We well remember the rebuke given to Sir John 
Crampton, several years ago, by a high-toned Ameri- 
can lady, then residing in this city, whose mansion 
near Lafayette square was the resort of all that 
was most refined and elegant in the Metropolis. 
The British Plenipotentiary, on hearing of a magnifi- 
cent fde about to be given by the lady in 
question, had, in the plenitude of his arrogance, sent 
his card by a valet, in the complacent expectation of 
being numbered among the invited guests ; but our 
spirited American lady, who was as fully conversant 
with the hienseances of society as the most pretentious 
demirep -of fashion that ever figured at Monarchical 
Courts, not only ignored Sir John Crampton's ex- 



53 



btence, but failed to recognize his cringing bow 
when he ventured to salute her in the streets. 



ETIQUETTE AT THE WHITE HOUSE. 

i^^f HE President of the United States, in consequence 
vJ> ofhis peculiar position, which does not permt of his 
^ participating in the hospitalities of private life, 
enjoys an almost absolute immunity from the en- 
tanglements of etiquette, and yet there a.re occasions 
when the Chief Magistrate has more difficulties to 
contend with, growing oat of this delicate question, 
than he has to encounter in the whole management 
of our national affairs. We allude to his intercourse 
with the Corps Diplomatique. 

The system of public receptions at the AVhite House 
is so simple and unaffected that all that the President 
has to do is to take his stand at a certain hour, in the 
■centre of the Blue Room, and with the assistance of 
the Marshal of the District, who is ex officio a sort of 
master of ceremonies, to be ready to shake hands 
with the multitudinous crowds v^^hich from eight to 
ten o'clock are ushered into his presence. 

Although etiquette or common usage requires the 
President of the United States to be arrayed on all 
occasions in a neat suit of black cloth, no rule has 
ever yet been established to regulate the style of 
dress of visitors ; and these presidential receptions, so 
* 



54 



far as outward apparel is concerned, still continue 
to represent every variety of taste and style — from 
the home-spun gray to the exquisitely fitting cos- 
tume of the dainty man of fashion, with the usual 
assortment of conflicting toilets, hoops, and water- 
falls on the part of the ladies. 

Nor is etiquette more exacting within the precincts 
of the White House, on more private occasions, when 
those who have business with the President are 
admitted to an audience during certain specified hours 
in the day. The visitors, without distinction, are 
ushered into an anti-room adjoining the President's 
private reception room, and it is the duty of the 
usher to see that each visitor obtains an interview 
according to priority of arrival. Members of Con- 
gress and Heads of Departments are at all times 
entitled to precedence, no matter how long a private 
citizen may have been waiting for an audience. The 
same rule applies to the various Departments of the 
Government. 

In order to facilitate as much as possible the ad- 
vancement of the public interest, and to avoid unnec- 
essary delays in the transaction of private business, 
it has been found expedient of late years to ^et apart 
a private day for the reception of foreign ministers, 
so that both at the Executive Mansion and at the 
Department of State visitors are no longer subjected, 
as in days of yore, to the inconvenience of frittering 
away the best portion of the day in waiting for the 
departure of some insouciant excellency, who may 



55 



have been closeted for hours with the President or 
the Secretary of State discussing Puffendorff on the 
duty of neutrals. 

With regard to the private receptions given by the 
ladies of the White House, which of late years have 
become so great a source of attraction, it is unneces-- 
sary to prescribe any rules of conduct or deportment 
further than to enforce the observance of that decorum 
v/hich governs gentlemen in their intercourse with 
ladies in private life. Although no invitations are 
issued to these receptions, more than the notices pub- 
lished in the daily newspapers, it would be a gross 
violation of etiquette for any one to present himself 
without having obtained a previous introduction to 
the ladies, or being, at least, accompanied by some one 
who has already enjoyed the privileges of a personal 
acquaintance. It is also proper to remark that, 
although a motley or uncouth garb rnay be tolerated 
at the presidential levees, no person having any pre- 
tention to the character of a gentleman would pre- 
sume to appear at these receptions dressed otherwise 
than in compliance with the strictest requirements of 
polite society. 

A dinner party at the Presidential Mansion, when 
confined to American guests, of whatever character 
or degree, is not attended with any confusion on the 
score of etiquette, for the relative rank of American 
dignitaries is easily determined. Cabinet ministers 
and their wives always take the precedence ; the 
President escorting th« wife of the premier to the 



56 



banquet table, and tbe latter performing the same 
devoirs by the President's wife, or any other lady 
who may happen to be doing the honors of the 
White House. Next to the Cabinet ministers prece- 
dence properly belongs to the judges of the United 
States Supreme Court, the Lieutenants General, United 
States Senators and members, of the House of Eep- 
resentatives, judges of the Court of Appeals and 
District Courts, Army and Navy officers, according 
to their different ranks and seniorities, distinguished 
strangers from abroad, and private citizens generally 
according to their various degrees of social import- 
ance. 

This is the etiquette of Washington with regard 
to the rales of precedence in polite society, and its 
provisions can be easily carried out without causing 
the slightest ripple on the surface of human vanity. 
What tries the patience of the American Chief Ma- 
gistrate is how to avoid wounding the fretful sensi- 
bilities of the Coiys Diplomatique, wdien the sensi- 
tive members of that irritable fraternity are brought 
together on solemn 

STATE OCCASIONS. 

HE question as to the right of precedence, le pas, 
among the representatives of foreign (iovernments 
ha^s been the cause of serious complications and im- 
broglios at all times and in all countries. At Euro- 
pean courts especially, where this punctilio is ad- 



57 



hered to with infinitely more tenacity than at 
Washington, the bickerings and exasperations caused 
by an accidental mistake in settling the relative 
importance in the rank of certain embassadors, has 
been known to cause a disruption of friendly rela- 
tions between powerful nations, and nearly to involve 
the whole of Europe in sanguinary wars. Even in our 
own country, although the pretensions of diplomatic 
agents have not been so offensively developed,' 
there are many instances on record where social 
gatherings have been dispersed, and the harmony of 
convivial meetings disturbed, by the acrimonious feel- 
ings engendered by unintentional omissions to recog- 
nize the. right of precedence in persons of this class, 
in promiscuous assemblages. We have not forgotten 
the indignity offered by Count Sartiges to an emi- 
nent citizen of Washington, who had failed to cater 
to the vanit}^ of the ostentatious Frenchman at a 
partie dii famille, where etiquette had been, for the 
time being, entirely set aside. President Taylor was 
frequently heard to say that he had rather fight the 
battle of Buena Vista over again than to go through 
the ordeal of entertaining the Cor2ys DijAomatique 
at a ceremonial dinner. Other Presidents have ex- 
perienced the same nervousness of feeling on similar 
occasions; and e^en Martin Van Buren, who had 
acquired a perfect understanding of all the idosyn^ 
crasies of diplomatic life during his residence in St. 
Petersburg, as minister plenipotentiary of the United 
States, acknowledged to the writer of this, that a 



58 



diplomatic state dinner was the greatest affliction 
that an avenging Providence could try him by. 

It would appear that foreigners, on entering the 
diplomatic career, cease to be rational beings; for 
with them, even the considerations of friendship, 
and the endearments of familiar . associations are 
ruthlessly sacrificed to the exactions of an inexora- 
ble etiquette. Having had considerable experience 
in matters of this kind, we will lay down the rules 
which AVashington etiquette requires to be observed 
in our intercourse with foreigners of this class. 
Whatever we may say with regard to the pas de pre- 
cedence on the occasion of diplomatic dinners at the 
White House, is fully applicable to polite society in 
private life. 

The various nationalities of Europe are divided into 
what is called — first, second, and third rate powers, 
most of which are represented in Washington by En- 
voys Extraordinaries and Ministers Plenipotentiaries 
of an assimilated rank and degree. There are also 
accredited to this Government the Representatives 
of Brazil, Mexico, and an inconceivable number of 
South and Central American Republics. To harmo- 
nize the pretensions of the Representatives of these 
numerous nationalities, has been the study of philo- 
sophers, from the days of Themistocles to those of 
Andrew Jackson, with but little, or no success ; until 
in a happy hour, during the council of Vienna, it was 
proposed and resolved, that the Senior Ernbassador 
or Plenipotentiary, from the date of appointment to 



59 



any court, irrespective of the rank of his country in 
the scale of nations, should be entitled to precedence, 
and be known by the title of Doyen or Dean. Even 
this decision failed to settle conflicting claims for 
diplomatic precedence; for while the right of the 
Doyen was universally acknowledged as established 
by indisputable authority, the question still occurred, 
who was entitled to precedence after the recognition 
of the Pater Familice. 

In Washington the matter has been simplified by 
awarding precedence to diplomatic representatives, 
according to their several ranks and dates of appoint- 
ment. The next in seniority to the Doyen takes the 
pas, and so to the end of the chapter. It is worthy 
of observation, however, as an illustration of the 
curious results of this system, that the honor of rep- 
resenting the Corps Diplomatique at Washington, in 
virtue of doyenship, has but too frequently fallen 
upon individuals whose Governments had but a semi- 
recognized existence among nations — such as Costa 
Rica, Nicaragua, and Salvador. The rule, however, 
is universally enforced, and the right of precedence 
is thus conclusively settled. The Doyen takes pos- 
session of the lady of the Presidential Mansion, and 
the rest of the Envoys Extraordinary follow ; not 
according to the magnitude and importance of their 
respective Governments, but the date of their arrival 
in this country. Then follow in succession Minis- 
ters Residents, Charges d' Affaires, first secretaries of 
legation, second ditto, paid attaches, and non-paid 



60 



ditto, all according to the rules of precedence pre- 
scribed in regard to the Envoys and l\Iinisters 
Plenipotentiaries. • 



ETIQUETTE IN PRIVATE LIFE. 

i^f HE only rules of etiquette required to be observed 
^^ at evening parties of any sort, is the avoidance of 
f^ vulgarity in dress and ready adaptation to all the 
conventionalities of select society. A frock coat is 
an abomination to be shunned, and a gawky toilet 
on the part of a lady to be considered as an infalli- 
ble indication of mental derangement. It is, how- 
ever, of the highest importance to good breeding, 
that no gentleman or lady should stop to chat or ex- 
change salutations with any acquaintances wdio may 
already be assembled on the floor, before having 
paid their respects to the lady of the house. At 
dinner parties, the entertainer must observe the same 
rules of etiquette, even in a stricter sense, than the 
dispenser of hospitality at the White House. An 
Envoy Extraordinary is allowed by courtesy to take 
precedence of a Cabinet Minister, excepting the Sec- 
retary of State; a Minister Resident ranks next to a 
Judge of the Supreme Court, the Lieutenant General 
or an Admiral; Major Generals Q,nd Commodores 
take precedence of Cha,rges d' Affaires, wdiile Judges 
of the Common Courts, and Secretaries of Legation 
rank next to Brigadier Generals, Captains of the 



61 



Navy,. and foreigner?- of distinction, such as noble- 
'nien of any grade, who have no official character. 
In private society, Congressmen have not the same 
rights of precedence which they exercise in their in- 
tercourse with the President and the Heads of De- 
partments. It is customary, however, to place Sena- 
tors of the United States on the same footing with 
Major Generals and Commodores ; and AI embers of 
tlie Lower House on an equality with officers next 
in rank to the above. Attaches of Legations are not 
entitled to any otlier distinction as regards the right 
of precedence, than is awarded by common usage to 
subaltern officers of the army and navy, and private 
citizens of prominent station in society. 



?i$ 



THE UNINITIATED. 

N connection with the etiquette of \Va?hington, a 
few hints to the uninitiated in the mysteries of a 
mixed society, may be of some service in preventing 
those fatal mistakes which frequently occur, especi- 
ally among foreign ministers, in issuing cards of 
invitation to their respective soirees. 

Some years ago a duly accredited minister, repre- 
senting a great power on this continent, arrived in 
Washington with his family, hired an elegant man- 
sion, which he furnished in a most costly style, and 
after a residence of tw^o months in the city, he issued 
cards of invitation for a grande soriee dansantc, in- 



62 



dueling tlie names of all those wlio had thought 
proper to leave their cards upon the family. Among 
the latter there were many whose persons had never 
darkened the thresholds of polite society, and who' 
were as much out of place inside the brilliantly illu- 
minated salons of his excellency as a professional 
gambler or a rum- seller in a clergyman's pulpit. The 
result of this indiscriminate invitation was a fan- 
tastic melange of humanity, such as had never 
before been witnessd on a similar occasion, embracing 
not only families of no social standing, but many 
characters of doubtful reputation. 

To avoid blunders of this kind in a community like 
Washington, where there are so many persons float- 
ing on the outskirts of polite society, ready to avail 
themselves of any chance, however bold or hazard- 
ous, to obtrude themselves upon the consideration 
of the unwary, a stranger, whatever may be his 
rank or condition, purporting to dispense hospitality 
to the eligible members of a society which is com- 
posed of so many incongruous materials, should 
consult the initiated in such matters, and submit 
every card bearing a name not familiar to the habi- 
tues of polite society to a rigid examination. This pre- 
cautionary measure is due to the elite among his 
guests who, notwithstanding our loud talk about 
republican simplicity of manners, would find it ex- 
ceedingly inconvenient to be jostled against bill col- 
lectors and tavern-keepers, in a place which they 
have every right to suppose to be inaccessible to such 
classes of persons. 



63 



DEPORTMENT AT MUSICAL SOIREES. 

2£|T has been customary of late years among tliebeau 
^ monde of Washington to relieve the monotony of 
% balls and evening dancing parties by the inter- 
mixture of musical soirees and select readings. At 
these parties persons are frequently invited on ac- 
count of their peculiar usefulness, as singers, players, 
or elocutionists, who may not otherwise possess the 
entree to these select circles of society. It is consid- 
ered the highest and most unpardonable infringe- 
ment of etiquette to exhibit any superciliousness in 
the presence of any gentlemen or lady appertaining 
to this talented class. It is not only an infringe- 
ment of etiquette, but positive rudeness for any one 
to converse or otherwise distract the attention of the 
company, while the invited artists exercise their 
talents for the benefit and gratification of those 
present. Any one capable of committing such a sole- 
cism in good breeding is evidently unfit to associate 
with refined people, and should never again be al- 
lowed to darken the door of the house where these 
vulgarities have been betrayed. We have witnessed 
so many breaches of decorum on occasions of this 
kind, that we would have thought our remarks on 
the etiquette of Washington incomplete without some 
a-Uusion to the subject. 



64 



MEMBERS OF CO^'GEESS. 

HERE is so much of the rough-and-tumble of de- 
mocracy among the majority of the members of 
Congress, and so little of that dignity of manners 
which should characterize men in high stations, 
that we cannot forbear directing attention to the sub- 
ject of political good manners. Members of Congress, 
more than any other class of public men, for they 
are all the time rehearsing in the presence of vast 
multitudes, who will be influenced for good or for 
evil in proportion as they are favorably or unfavor- 
ably impressed, should take particular care to fence 
themselves with decorum against the encroachments 
of. that rudeness which some seem to consider the 
greatest privilege, as it certainly is the most insidi- 
ous enemy of democracy. A member of Congress 
should make every effort to give back to public 
station that dignity which the elective S3^stem insen- 
sibly abates, while rendering it only the more need- 
ful. It is the most vulgar of fallacies to say that 
the people make their magistrates because they 
choose them, and that they will not respect the work 
of their own hands. The man who is made by votes 
is sure to be unmade by office. But where, as 
should be the case, the fitness is in the man, and 
the popular suffrage but invests with the title, there 
is a chance that both office and its incumbent shall 
find the respect which is their due. 



65 



COIXCLUSION. 

fN the foregoing remarks we have purposely ab - 
^^ stained elucidating any point of etiquette whore the 
'|f rule is universal, and applicable alike to the polite 
society of other cities, whether in New York, Paris,. 
London, or Timbuctoo. To tell a man that the 
etiquette of Washington requires him to be scrupu- 
lously neat and clean before he ventures into the pres- 
ence of ladies, is to suppose that the refined society 
of other cities is less exacting in regard to those 
attributes. To prescribe an}^ rule as to the style of 
dress to be v/orn in "Washington is to convey the 
impression that what is fashionable in Fifth Avenue 
and Madison Square is vulgar and objectionable in 
the salons of Washington. It is to be expected that 
gentlemen will studiously avoid doing her-e what 
they would be ostracised for if they attempted 
to do elsewhere. That they will neither chew 
tobacco in a lady's drawing-room nor cat fish with 
their knives, nor swallow the warm water contained 
in the finger-glasses, nor commit any abomination 
in short for which they would be scouted at and re- • 
buked in other communities, and about which eti- 
quette contains no rules which are not applicable 
alike throughout the civilized world. 

In conclusion we desire to remind those visitors at 
the Federal Metropolis, who have been so fortunate 



66 



as to participate in the hospitalities of private life, 
that the rules of etiquette require a card to be left 
at every house where they have been entertained, 
and a visit of ceremony to be paid before leaving 
the city in token of the favors received. 



j^x^ip:Ej:j^^iBrrxcj^iL, list 

OF ALL THE ROOMS, ETC., IN THE CAPITOL. 
A. 



Agricultural Committee 

Room, House 

Accounts 



B. 

Bath Room, House 

" '' Senate 

Bronze Staircase, House.. . 
(( (( (. 

" '* Senate... 



Bronze Doors. 



Wing. 


Floor. 


No. 


House. 


1st. 


32 


<( 


1st. 


36 


House. 


1st. 


19 


Senate. 


1st. 


4 


House. 


1st. 


40 


(( 


2nd. 


32 


Senate. 


1st. 


G3 


(. 


2ncl. 


34 


House. 


2ud. 


10 



c. 



Crypt.. 




.Old Building, 1st. 


1 






10 


a 


Store Rooms — 


11 


a 


Clerk's Offices.. 


(( a 


9 


a 


Library. 


iC i( 


12 


a 


Judges' Room . 


(e a 


13 


a 


Solicitors' " . .. 


a (< 


14 


Committee Room, House. 


House. " 


26 



64 



Wing. Floor. No. 
Committee Room, Senate,.. 

Private Senate. 3rd. 28, 29 

Claims Committee, House. House. 1st. 31 

'' " Senate. Senate. 1st. 60 

Capt. Capitol Police OfficcOld Building. 2ncl. 14 

Clerk House Rep'tives " House. " 26 

Clerks' Offices " " 27 

Commissioner of Public 

Buildings Old Building. " 2, 3 

Commissioner of Public 

Buildings Clerk " " 4 

Commerce Commissioner 

of House House. " 11 

Commerce Commissioner 

of Senate Senate. " 25 



D. 

Doorkeeper House of Rep- 

sentatives House. 1st. 

Document Room of Clerk of 

House of Repre'tives.. *' " 

Document Room of House 

of Representatives Old Building. 2nd. 

Document Room of Senate. Senate. Srd. 
District of Columbia Com. 

mittee of Senate " 1st. 

District of Columbia Com- 

mitte of House House. 3rd. 

Dome Old Building. 3rd. 

Dome Stairs " 2nd. 

" " « 3rd. 



29 



12 
31 



61 



65 

E. 

Wing. Floor. No. 

Election Committee of 

House House. 1st. 22 

Entrance to Heating and 

Ventilating Apparatus. " " S-i 

Entrance to Heating and 

Ventilating Apparatus. Seiiate. " 59 

Enrolled Bills Committee, 

Senate " " 51 

F. 

Folding Room, House of 

Rep'tves, Store Rooms. Old Building. 1st. 15 

Folding Room, House of 

Representatives " " lO 

Folding Room, House of 

Rep'tives, Super' dent. " " 17 

Folding Room, Senate Senate. " 47 

Foreign Atfairs Committee 

of Senate " '' 49 

Foreign Affairs Committee 

of House House. 3rd. 8 

Finance Committee of 

Senate Senate. 2nd. 36 

H. 

House Stationery Room. . .Old Building. 2ud. 10 

Hall of Representatives. .. . House. " 30 

Heating and Ventilating 

Apparatus of House. . . " 1st. 34 

Heating and Ventilating 

Apparatus of Senate. . Senate. Ist. 50 

7 



66 





■Wing. 


Floor. 


No, 


Investigation Room 


House. 


1st. 


21 


Indian Affairs of House. . . 


(( 


(( 


37 


" " Senate... 


Senate. 


(( 


58 


Invalid Pensions of House. 


House. 


3rd. 


16 



J. * 

Judiciary Committee of 

Senate Senate. 

Judiciary Committee of 

House House. 

Judges of Supreme Court. .Old Building. 
" Court of Claims. " 

L. 

Law Library Old Building. 

Librar}', Court of Claims. . " 
*' of Congress, op- 
posite Rotunda " 

Lighting Apparatus House. 

Ladies' Retiring Room of 

House *' 

Ladies' Retiring Room of 

Senate Senate. 

Library of House of Repre- 
sentatives House. 

Ladies' Reception Room of 

Senate Senate. 

Ladies' Reception Room of 

House House. 



1st. 



55 



3rd. 


9 


2nd. 


5 


1st. 


13 



1st. 


8 


(( 


13 


2nd. 


9 


3rd. 


10 


(( 


13 


<( 


27 


3rd. 


21 


2nd. 


41 


a 


21 



67 

M. 

Wing. 

Military Affairs of Senate. Senate. 

" " House.. House. 

Marslial of District of Co- 
lumbia Old Building. 

Members Reception Room 

of House House. 

Marble Room of Senate. . . Senate. 

Mileage Committee of 

House House. 

N. 

Naval Affairs of Senate. . . . Senate. 
" " House House. 

O. 

Old Senate Chamber Old Building, 

" Hall of Representatives " 

'* Speaker's Room " 

P. 

Police Guard Room Old Buildin 

Post Offices and Post Roads 

of Senate Senate. 

Post Offices and Post Roads 

of House House. 

Public B'di.ngs and Grounds 

of Senate Senate. 

Public B'dings and Grounds 

of House House. 



Floor. 


yo. 


1st. 


57 


2nd. 


17 



3rd. 



1st. 
2nd. 



2nd. 



.1st. 



24 
43 

20 



56 
29 



7 
13 

15 



(( 


48 


(( 


24 


3rd. 


23 


1st. 


25 



68 

Wins. Floor. No- 

Public Expenditures of 

House House. 1st. 2S 

Peusions Committee of 

Senate ,^ Senate. " 44 

Public Lands of Senate " " 45 

*' " House .... House. 3rd. 13 

Private Land Claims of 

Senate Senate. 1st. 53 

Patents Committee of 

Senate " Srd. 24 

Patents Committee of 

House House. 1st. 30 

Post Office of House of Rep- 
resentatives " 2nd. 19 

Post Office of Senate Senate. " 39 

Private Room House. " 25 

" Senate. " 45 

Picture of Western Enaigra- 

tion, by Leutze — West. 

Gallery Staircase of 

House House. " 28 

Picture of Battle of Cbapul- 

tepeCjby Walker — West 

Gallery of Staircase of 

Senate Senate. " 48 

Private Passage of House.. House. " 31 

" " Senate. Senate. " 35 

Photograph Rooms Old Building. 3rd. 5, 6 

Pacific Railroad Committee 

Room Senate. " 28 

Printing Committee of 

Senate " " SO 

President's Room " 2nd. 44 



69 

R. 

"Wins. rioor. No. 

Restaurant of House House. 1st. is 

*' Senate Senate. " 41 

" " Old Building. 2n a. 

Revolutionary Claims of 

Senate Senate. 1st. 4»" 

Revolutionary Claims of 

House House. " 35 

Rotunda— Centre of tlie 

Capitol Old Building. 2nd. 1 

Reporters' Gallery of Senate Senate. 3rd. 20 

" " House. House. " U 
Revolutionary Pensions of 

House " " 17 

Roads and Canals of House " " IS 



Store Rooms of Law Li- 
brary Old Building. 1st. 3 

Store Rooms of Plouse of 

Representatives House. " 20 

Store Rooms of House of 

Representatives " *' 3>> 

Store Rooms of Senate Senate. " 62,42 , 43 

" " ofSuprem.e 

Court. .Old Building. " 5, 6, 7 

" " House " 2nd. U 

Superintendent of House 

Folding Room " 1st. 17 

Superintendent of Senate 

Folding Room Senate. *' 50 



70 



Wing. Floor. Xo. 

Supreme Court Old Building. 2nd. 7 

" " Ante Room.. " " G 

" Chief Clerk.. " <' 4 

'• " Clerks " " 3 

Siationar}^ Room of House. " *' 10 

" " Senate. Senate. " 33 

Statue of Jelierson, by 

Crawford, (at the foot 

of East Gallery Stairs, 

House.) House. 2nd. 18 

Statue of Franklin, by 

Powers, (at the foot of 

East Gallery Stairs of 

Senate.) Senate. " 37 

Statue of Hancock, by 

Stone, (at the foot of 

West Gallery Stairs of 

Senate.) Senate. ^' 49 

Sergeant-at-Arms of House House. " 22 

" " States. Senate. " 40 

Speaker's Room House. " 23 

Senate Chamber Senate. " 33 

Secretary Q(f Senate Office. ^ " " 46 

" " Clerks' " ^ " " 47 

T. 
Territorial Committee of 

House House. 1st. 27 

Territorial Committee of 

Senate Senate. " 53 

Telegraph Office, (House 

Gallery.) House. 3rd. 15 



71 
u. 

"VVing. Floor. 

Upholsterer's Eoom of 

House House. 1st. 

V. 

Vice President's Room. .. . Senate. 2nd. 

W. 

Water Closets for Gentle- 
men Senate. 1st. 

Water Closets for Gentle- 
men House. Isrt. 

Ways and Means Commit- 
tee " 2nd. 



No. 

23 
42 

54 
30 
20 



6f /.2 <L 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




010 953 963 6 



